Shakespeare presents Denmark as a corrupt society in a variety of ways in Act One of Hamlet. Claudius is the main example and source of corruption as he is the head of Denmark and the main role model for the country to look up to. This is a worrying factor as what we learn of Claudius actions does not reflect well for the overall ruling of the Country. In Act One scene two the audience is introduced to the new king Claudius and his queen Gertrude. During his speech we learn that he has married his sister-in-law Gertrude. “Our sometime sister now our queen” this already displays a corrupt society as the heads of state are involved in incestuous activity. The hast of their marriage, “the memory be green” also shows that there may have been plans before the loss of King Hamlet which then leads to the doubt of queen Gertrude’s intentions . The audience can chose how to interpret queen Gertrude , either as a confused and easily influenced women who is a victim of the society she lives in, or they can view her as a manipulative women who is power hungry and strives to hold her position in society , so she has married her brother-in-law to maintain the title of Queen. Claudius’s attack on Hamlets grieving process for his father is vicious, as he comments that it is “impious stubbornness, ‘tis unmanly grief” but this is unfair to Hamlet as he is unable to accept a new father figure whilst dealing with the loss of his father, where as his mother’s betrayal has affected Hamlet by inflicting damage to his respect and trust of her. In scene 5 when the apparition describes King Claudius as “incestuous, that adulterate beast” the audiences’ suspicions are confirmed and the description of Claudius’s part in King Hamlets death the opinion of his character completely deteriorates. The ghost’s importance of revealing corrupt society in Macbeth is great as he reveals to Hamlet that he was murdered in a treasonous act by his brother Claudius. He explains how he was resting in his...

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English 102
05/01/13
Corrupt Utopian Societies
Have you ever imagined living in a society where everyone is the same? Can you imagine living in a society where people don’t ask questions, they just do as they are told? Winston Smith from George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four and Bernard Marx from Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World live in worlds very similar to these. They live in worlds where corruption is scarce among the common population. Winston and Bernard are from entirely different settings; however, they have an abundance of thoughts that lead them to similar places in different stories. These thoughts and actions taken by these characters are fascinating to the reader when drawn into perspective. Few times in the two novels Winston and Bernard’s thoughts draw them close to danger within their worlds because of consequences with their dictators or government. Bernard is exiled from his society to a different continent while Winston is sentenced to death after vigorous amounts of testing and torture. It is interesting to see how these characters thoughts are so different and similar at the same time, and how they lead them to their dismay.
The title of my essay relays how I think about these novels in two ways. The first one being that I believe both of the books are attempted Utopias. The second reason being that although both societies are attempted utopias they turn...

...Drama before Shakespeare’s Time
Playwriting was somewhat different before Shakespeare wrote plays. Shakespeare’s plays are mostly about justice, love, jealousy, murder, mystery, and basically anything that involved in real life that anyone can relate. He basically wrote about any theme he felt necessary. But before he was born in England, most plays during one specific era were about only one or two specific themes. These plays were based on morality plays which were medieval plays based on biblical subjects. Themes of interludes had a huge influence on Shakespeare because secular drama formed hybrid-moralities. To add on, the old generation slowly faded away leaving Shakespeare the field all to himself. Next, great developments during the 70s and 80s (1500) lead to experimenting and combination of new elements that would be introduced into the theatre, later on, Shakespeare would adapt this structure into his own work.
Moralities are a development of miracle plays and together with this form the greater part of medieval drama. They have been defined as a play enforcing a moral truth/lesson by means of the speech and action of the characters which are personified abstractions—figures representing vice and virtues, qualities of the human mind, or abstract conceptions. In the Miracle Play the subject—matter is concerned with Bible narrative—a certain historical or traditional foundation underlies the plot, and...

...William Shakespeare
(April 23rd 1564 – April 23rd 1616)
Little is known about ‘ the morning star’ of English literature . He was born on the 23rd of April 1564 in Stratfordupon-Avon as the son of a glove dealer. He studied for 5 years at Stratford grammar school ( as written in the village documents) . At the age of 18 he married Anne Hathaway and they had 3 children : a daughter , Susanna , and two twins (Hamnet and Judith). Hamnet died at the age of 11 .In 1585- at the age of 21- Shakespeare left for London in search for a job and he got himself employed in a theatre Company as a ‘ jack-of-all-trades’. He began by being a horse keeper, then a stage-boy, an actor, a prompter , a play-mender and finally a playwright . When the Globe theatre was built (1599) we find Shakespeare as a share –holder.
The Elizabethan Theatre
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The first proper theater as we know it, was called the Theatre, built at Shoreditch, London in 1576 and the owner was James Burbage. James Burbage had obtained a 21 year lease with permission to build the first playhouse, aptly named ' The Theatre '. Before this time plays were performed in the courtyard of inns or inn-yards, or sometimes, in the houses of noblemen or in extreme circumstances on open ground. After the Theatre, further open air playhouses ( theaters ) opened in the London area, including the Rose Theatre (1587), and the Hope Theatre (1613). The most famous Elizabethan...

...also a powerful tragic story. It can therefore be called a tragicomedy.
Shakespeare’ tragicomedies usually have improbable and complex plots; characters of high social class; contrasts between villainy and virtue; love of different kinds at their centre; a hero who is saved at the last minute after a touch-and- go experience; surprises and treachery. The Winter’s Tale and Cymbeline are two plays that fit that tragicomical pattern.
Shakespeare’s plays generally accepted as tragicomedy plays are:
* Cymbeline
* The Winter’s Tale
Shakespeare’s Tragedy plays
One of the main features of Renaissance art is that it was inspired by classical art and philosophy. This is evident in the work of such artists as Michelangelo who, caught up in the spirit of Humanism that was sweeping across Europe, focused on the human form. Focusing on the human form during Mediaeval times would have been impossible as it would have been a distraction from the necessary focus on God. The essence of Humanistic art was that human beings were created in God’s image so it was possible for Michelangelo even to portray God – as a beautiful and physically powerful man with realistic human features, presented as perfection – in fact, the human form at its most beautiful. Artists became anatomists, going as far as buying human bodies for dissection. The result was a new realism in the representation of human beings in art.
Shakespeare is, in a way, the Michelangelo of...

...Victim of a Corrupt World
Troubled by royal treason, ruthless scheming, and a ghost, Denmark is on the verge of destruction. Directly following King Hamlet's death, the widowed Queen Gertrude remarried Claudius, the King's brother. Prince Hamlet sees the union of his mother and uncle as a "hasty and incestuous" act (Charles Boyce, 232). He then finds out that Claudius is responsible for his father's treacherous murder. His father's ghost asks Hamlet to avenge his death and Hamlet agrees. He plans very carefully, making sure that he doesn't kill Claudius when in he has already been forgiven for his sins. Hamlet accidentally kills Polonius, the King's advisor, thinking that it was Claudius hiding behind a curtain spying on Hamlet and his mother. This drives Ophelia, Polonius' daughter and Hamlet's love interest, insane. She then drowns in a suspected suicide when she falls from a tree into a river. Laertes, Ophelia's brother, teams up with Claudius and plot revenge on the strained prince.
Hamlet agrees to a sword match with Laertes not knowing that Laertes will have a sharp, poisoned sword while he will be given a blunted sword. To make sure that their plan to kill Hamlet works, Claudius poisoned a drink to give to Hamlet but Gertrude ends up drinking it causing their plan to unravel. Laertes then wounds Hamlet with the poisoned sword, but in the scuffle they exchange weapons and Hamlet slices Laeretes with the toxic blade. He then slashes...

...Shakespeare Research Paper
William Shakespeare is arguably one of the greatest playwrights and poets of all time. This is due to his intelligent sonnets and plays that are divided into the genres of comedy, tragedy and history. Many great poets have acknowledged him as a pure genius in the way he presents his work. English novelist D.H. Lawrence stated “When I read Shakespeare I am struck with wonder that such trivial people should muse and thunder in such lovely language”. (Alchin, online) English poet Robert Graves once described this poetic genius, claiming that “The remarkable thing about Shakespeare is that he is really very good - in spite of all the people who say he is very good.” (Alchin, online) Shakespeare’s work has the reputation of being the one of the greatest in English language and Western literature. It has been translated into every major language and is still being preformed all around the world today. Many of Shakespeare’s plays and sonnets have similar characteristics relating to themes, motifs, and symbols. These recurring images and ideas not only portray how he really feels, but they also have a personal connection with Shakespeare as they have had some significance in his life. The theme of death and reappearing ghosts appear in many of Shakespeare’s works, especially in Hamlet and Macbeth, and are used to connect with the reader and present an important aspect that helps...

...man, something can corrupt the mind, and in this play, that is greed. The three witches in this play are the ones that get the little fire in Macbeth going. When Macbeth runs into the witches, they start the idea of him becoming the next king. He somewhat believes them because they told him "Hail to thee, thane of Cawdor" , which indeed he did become (1, 3, 50). So when plans take a path that didn't led to him becoming king, he began to think why he wasn't good enough to become king. Seeing Malcolm become king didn't go so well with Macbeth and this is were just a little more corruption adds on. After all of this, he talks to himself about murdering King Duncan to make himself king. He is on the border of committing the murder and just dealing with the fact that Malcolm was going to be king. He knew it was a treason to do it, and that "We still have judgment here, that we but teach bloody instructions, which being taught, return to plague th" inventor: this even-handed justice commends the ingredients of our poisoned chalice", so he would just be a hypocrite in the end (1, 7, 8-11). At this point he is not so sure about going through with it. When Lady Macbeth returns from the dinner she tells him that the plan will work. Macbeth is not so sure about doing it until Lady Macbeth questions "What beast was 't, then, that made you break this enterprise to me?" and tells him that "then you were a man" (1, 7, 47-48) (1, 7 , 49). This is the final log to the...

...The Philippines is known to have been through a lot of corruption especially during the Marcos era. Tyranny was prevalent. Absolute power, whether is a king, president or a protector is not only alien to our idea of "democratic decision" but without fail, gets to be arbitrary despotic and corrupt. Tyranny was at its height during martial law, which began September 1972.
William Shakespeare reveals his perception of a corruptsociety in his play "Julius Caesar" . This play is about the assassination of Julius Caesar, dictator of Rome. His assassination by the conspirators , Brutus and Cassius was brought about by a lot of motives. Cassius' purpose is merely his envy and his greed for power. Brutus is concerned for the good of Rome. He did not want Rome to suffer in the hands of a tyrant. Caesar's character is not only judged by what he says or does but mostly what others think of him. To the common people he is a hero, but to the sonspirators he is a traitor to Rome. It is evident that Caesar can easily be moved by flattery which led to his death. Shortly before his death, he didn't want to go to the capital because he gave in to Calpurnia's fears that he might get killed. However, Decius , one of the conspirators played with his vanity by interpreting Calpurnia's dream in a way that would flatter him. This proves that he masks his fears because he wants to cast himself in the role of a god....